To Rob a Hyuuga
by nisachara
Summary: Sasuke has run off without paying rent or a 3 day notice. How will Kiba, Sai & Shikamaru pay off their debts before they are rendered homeless? Shikamaru devices a plan, which involves a certain Hyuuga. Kiba, Sai, Shikamaru, Neji & a little bit of Sasuke
1. Mail

**Chapter 1 - Mail**

The big white furry creature licked his master's toe. Its effect was immediate:

"GAHHH!!"

The brunette winced as he touched the humongous bump on his head that was pushing its way up. The bang to his head had successfully rendered him wide awake. At the foot of the bed his dog Akamaru wagged its tail. He'd done it again: sat up too fast in his bed and crashed into the one above him.

"Heh." The boy leaned and mussed the hair on the canine's head. "Good morning to you too, buddy!" Akamaru barked, and with a spring, landed right onto his master's lap. Now this wasn't your average dog, mind you. This one was _huge_. So huge that even his master, Kiba, could practically sit on his back. And naturally the bed creaked dangerously under the added weight.

Kiba pushed his furry companion out of the bed and got up to find his walking gear. And no, he wasn't really planning on brushing his teeth first.

One of his roommates cracked an eye open at him.

"Yo!" Kiba said in acknowledgment. Despite the daily bumps to his head he was always good natured in the mornings.

Sai smiled sleepily in response and reached out for the alarm clock. It was already 8:00 am.

* * *

*******

**Kiba**

**Age: 19**

**Occupation: Second year Pre-Vet student; works as a veterinary assistant to his sister part-time**

*******

* * *

"Oi what the hell is this doing in my pile of clothes?" Kiba asked, holding up a green pair of boxers (which had tiny reindeer printed all over it) with the end of a pencil he'd found on the floor.

Sai was trying to fix his clock for the sixth time that week – which he distinctly remembered setting for 7:00.

Not really expecting any response, Kiba flung the offending pair of undies up at his second roommate who was still fast asleep on the bed above Sai's.

Finding his things among the pile of clothes, food wrappers, dog fur, and notebooks, Kiba ran out of the house for his daily run with Akamaru, his pants still only halfway up even as he entered the walkway.

Sai returned the clock to its original place and slipped out of bed, after which he set about his morning ritual: he smoothed out his bed sheets, fluffed his pillows, and folded his blanket. He then stepped back and checked if the corners of his folded blanket were all aligned at right angles. _Perfect _he told himself.

Now Sai wasn't one to run around half dressed and smelling of morning breath. He had what you call discipline. There were rules and regulations and he'd follow them, even if nobody else did. There had to be some sort of order in his life, or else he found it quite difficult to function. So he strode off to the bathroom and dutifully began brushing his teeth.

* * *

***

**Sai**

**Age: 19**

**Occupation: Second year Psychology (honors) student; accepts art commissions in his spare time**

***

* * *

8:55 am.

He was hurriedly putting things together for breakfast when he heard the postman drop in the mail. Keeping the orange juice on the table, he sprinted up to the main door. He was expecting a check from one of his 'patrons' for a considerably large landscape he had spent a good deal working on the past month. University students are poor, so the prospect of receiving a check in the mail is, generally, more than just a 'big thing'.

He didn't have to turn the handle though, because a very excited looking Kiba and Akamaru bounded in from the outside and thoroughly buried him under their weight.

"MAAAIIIILLL!!!" Kiba yelled out the obvious, morning breath diffusing its way around the living room.

"Is my check in there?"

"I dunno, but there're two letters for you."

"Thanks."

"Oi Shikamaru! Your mom sent cookies again!"

There wasn't really any response but they ripped open the boxed package and helped themselves to the cookies anyway.

Shikamaru's mother always made sure to send them cookies every month. Shikamaru, however, hadn't really had the chance to taste them in a while since he was always too late when he got to them. He was later forced to think up creative ways of describing how he 'enjoyed' them in the letters he wrote home. Yes, he wrote his mother letters, because she was too old fashioned to use email.

Immersed in the yummy goodness that was Shikamaru's mother's homemade cookies, the two boys – and the dog – went through their mail. Sai _had_ received the two hundred dollar check and Kiba had a long RSPCA newsletter, among junk mail and other things.

And then there was a curious letter in a light green envelope at the bottom of the pile. It was addressed to all three of them.

Kiba picked it up first. "Dude, ya think this an invitation or something?"

"Let me see." Sai took the piece of paper from him. He immediately noticed the sender's name: Mrs. T. Kyoto, the landlady.

"It's from Mrs. Kyoto…"

Kiba's features turned into alarm. "Man that can't be good. Could it?"

Sai only shook his head and opened the letter. He grew paler than his usual pale as he read its contents.

"What?! What's in it? What'd the old hag say this time?"

"It seems that Sasuke hadn't paid his share of the rent for eight months before he ran away without turning in his three day notice. There's also a huge bill for excessive internet usage."

"Shit." Kiba felt his throat run dry. "That's a bad thing isn't it?"

Sai nodded. "Really bad," he said, looking at the two hundred dollar check addressed to him.

"What's really bad? And it's 9:00 already, what's for breakfast?" A groggy voice behind them interjected. "I've got a class at 9:15."

Shikamaru was standing right behind them, reindeer-printed green boxers in hand, and sleep written all over his face.

"Why, good morning to you too, Shikamaru-kun," Sai greeted with his sweetest smile.

Shikamaru answered with a brief "Uh-huh" before letting out a tremendous yawn.

* * *

*******

**Shikamaru**

**Age: 19**

**Occupation: Second year Physics student; works part time as a teaching assistant at the senior Physics labs**

*******

**

* * *

  
**

When the situation was explained to him, he only sighed.

"How the hell can you be so _calm_ at a time like this?!" Kiba yelled.

"Ah jeez, don't shout so early in the morning."

"Early in the mor—_early? _Early my ass!" Kiba was beside himself, panicking at the amount they'd have to pay unless they wanted to get kicked out.

Unfazed, Shikamaru enquired from Sai: "When's the deadline?"

"November twentieth, which is exactly two months from now."

"Holy shit!" intervened Kiba from the background.

"And why hadn't we received any prior warning?" Shikamaru asked, still cool-headed despite Kiba's somewhat contagious panic which had seemed to spread to Akamaru as well.

"Apparently a number of warnings had been issued to Sasuke, but it seems he failed to forward them to us," replied Sai, equally cool.

"And _we_ are to blame for what that loser did?! It's not _our_ fault he suddenly decided to up and leave so he could kill his brother!" Kiba continued to yell in the background. The other two merely ignored him.

"We can't really ask for an extension now, can we?" Shikamaru mused, loudly.

"I don't think that's a good idea since we'd have to pay a percentage more if it gets postponed further."

"Hnn. I guess that's it then."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"I see. Alright."

Kiba had momentarily stopped ranting. "Woah woah what do you mean by _that's it?!_ You mean you ain't gonna do scrat about it?" He then turned his angry gaze at Sai, who happened to be giving him a ridiculous smile. "And why are you _smiling_, idiot?!"

"I read in a book that you should smile at a person to make them feel happy, or at ease, or—"

A gruff "ahem" came from Shikamaru, cutting Sai short. He cocked an eyebrow, a sign of petulance, before leaning forward and adding: "Alright listen, here's the plan."

"Wait… so there _is_ a plan?" Kiba sat down with a loud thump and pouted, his one protruding little canine hidden beneath his lower lip.

Shikamaru grunted an affirmative before continuing: "We're going to type out a notice asking for a roommate and print out as many copies as we can. Then we'll paste them all over campus and hope someone calls back."

"But it's the middle of the semester," Kiba offered.

"Yes, but there's no other choice."

"But how are we going to pay off the entire sum? He's only going to be paying _his_ share of the rent, right?"

Sai was thoughtful for a moment before he said: "Must we specify that we're looking for a _rich_ roommate?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I'm afraid it'll look highly suspicious, but it has to be done." Looking around at the thoughtful party, he added: "We will have to device a method of conveniently extracting our new roomie's money without having him notice it though. For this we will need to interview the interested party, before we come to an agreement with him, such that we gain the adequate information. Let's start from there." Unlike Kiba, Shikamaru was able to function well even without any breakfast.

"But this is all Sasuke's fault…" began Kiba.

"Yes, that part comes later," chimed in Sai.

"What part?"

Shikamaru frowned. "The part where we kill him."

Kiba studied his expression closely and then grinned. Shikamaru was serious.

And so, without further ado, the three of them set to work designing their notices and printing them out.

* * *

**ROOMMATE WANTED (URGENT)**

Nice, homely one-bedroom house at 422 North Shinigami Street

1 bath + living room + kitchen

washer/dryer included

Internet access available

Walking distance to campus (approx 2 miles)

Contact 566-9400

* * *

Kiba had initially put an additional touch to his set of notices. He added 'RICH' in front of 'ROOMMATE WANTED'.

Shikamaru had to reprint another fifty fresh copies of the original notice.

Neither one went to class that morning. Priority came first. They had to have every single notice up by the end of the day.

Shikamaru was also informed that he had missed an Advanced Physics pop quiz by Temari, a foreign exchange student who also happened to take the Advanced Physics that he was taking that semester.

"How convenient" was all he could say.

* * *

The phone rang at 10:00 that night… and the caller wished to speak to them about the house, in person, the next day.

Shikamaru grinned. All plans for the interview were well under way.

He reached for his mother's cookies but found the box empty.

He sighed.


	2. Interview

**Chapter 2 – Interview**

A cacophony suddenly erupted from one end of the room.

Stunned, Sai and Kiba sat up straight in their beds. Kiba sat up a bit too straight though, as usual, and another bump proceeded to push its way vertically on his throbbing head.

"It worked!" Sai exclaimed ecstatically (although he didn't know he was ecstatic) as he reached for the clock and shut off the alarm. The clock's face read 7:00 am.

Kiba sprang up and jumped onto Sai's bed, poking the sagging mattress above it. "Oi Shikamaru! Wake up!" Neither a sound, nor a single movement ensued from the bed above.

As a general rule, Shikamaru slept on the top bunk, and to the far left facing the wall. You couldn't reach him easily (if you wanted to shake him awake) unless you climbed up and sat on his bed. It was a strategy he had come up with as a means to get the maximum out of a nap.

Kiba climbed up the short ladder and slapped Shikamaru's sleepy pineapple head. "How can you be _sleeping_ at a time like this?" A muffled _mrmph_ from Shikamaru's side followed immediately.

"What time is it?"

"7:10"

"I'm getting up at 8:00."

"No, you have a class at 8:00."

"Tch. Maaan… how troublesome…" The groggy physicist slowly sat up in his bed.

* * *

7:20 am.

"SAI! You are _not _interviewing our potential roommate looking like _that!_"

Sai looked down at his uncovered abs and wondered what had suddenly come over the Inuzuka. _He didn't have a problem with it before… _he thought. You got it, you flaunt it; wasn't that the rule? He had great abs, and he was one of the handful of men that could wear a crop top and pull it off just fine (or so he thought). Also, being an artist, he probably felt the need to express himself a little differently from the rest. Well to be honest, Sai didn't really 'feel'; he was an alien to human emotions. And it was for this very reason that his roommates wondered how he had got into the _honors_ class in Psychology, of all subjects. It was all by the book, he told them, smiling.

Shikamaru was looking everywhere for the copy of their tenant's contract. Kiba's things were all over the place, and he felt like he was searching a black hole.

It took them another twenty minutes to finally leave home. Shikamaru found the contract under a pile of Sai's discarded ink bottles. It was stained but legible. _Good enough,_ he figured. Kiba had finally succeeded in forcing an extremely reluctant Sai to wear one of his t-shirts in exchange for the crop top. It was somewhat a little too fitting on Sai than it would have been on Kiba owing to Sai's slightly larger frame. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to wear it. Looking in the mirror, though, Sai decided it wasn't _that_ bad. At least it was five hundred times more appealing than Lee's spandex.

They jogged over to the university, practicing their interview lines on the way. The caller had requested to schedule their meeting during the 11:00-11:30 slot, but all three of them had classes starting at 11:15, so they had to rehearse their questions in such a way that they were able to extract the maximum information in the minimum amount of time. It was definitely a big deal.

* * *

11:00 am at Java Dave's Open Café

A solitary Law student sat at a table meant for four, sipping a caramel latte and reading a ginormous red book. He had long hair neatly tied up toward the end and he wore dark shades. He looked at his watch. _It's time._

Three noticeably flustered looking young men scrambled through the crowd, arms laden with books and shoulders drooping under the weight of their book bags. They took their seats at the table where our Law student sat.

He nodded in acknowledgment.

The three of them threw quick glances at the young man in front of them, quickly noticing his expensive, well-ironed clothes, also immediately registering into their brains that they've definitely found a rich candidate. Kiba grinned, Sai smiled, and Shikamaru held out his hand in greeting.

But the boy just crossed his arms across his chest and looked at them sullenly through those dark shades. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Shikamaru frowned. _I thought I was the one calling the shots here._

Sai cocked an eyebrow, immediately recalling what he had learnt from his books and identifying the boy's response as 'hostile'. He placed the adjective right next to 'rich' somewhere in the ordered categorization log books of his brain.

_This one's a regular snob, _thought Kiba, fighting the urge to voice his thoughts.

"Alright," began Shikamaru, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. "I'm Shikamaru, this is Sai, and that's Kiba." He didn't wait for the other to introduce himself before producing the original tenant's contract and somewhat curtly placed it on the table. The interviewee shot a brief look of disgust at the piece of paper and cautiously picked it up with his fingernails. Which were, the boys noted, manicured.

"Each one of us has to pay three hundred per month. We are to share one room and one bathroom. The room's actually big enough for six so you don't really have to worry about space, and there's a separate desk for each. We take turns cleaning the bathroom every week and everybody has to help make dinner." At this the other boy cocked an eyebrow. "It's perfectly alright if you'd rather eat outside, but as a rule, we cook together and eat together."

"What is this, some kind of family bonding procedure or something?"

Shikamaru ignored him.

The candidate read the contract thoroughly before adding: "And are there any other rules I need to know?"

"No."

"Hnn."

After what seemed like an eon to Kiba, the boy pushed the paper away from him and announced: "Deal."

Shikamaru smirked. Sai silently observed him from his chair. Kiba grinned even wider.

"Okay!" Shikamaru brought his chair closer to the table. The others did the same. Placing their arms on the table and clasping their hands, they gave their subject the feeling that this was probably an interrogation rather than an interview. But it was a challenge he was going to get through, he told himself, straightening up and readying himself for the torrent of questions that threatened to spill out from their stern faces – except for the one in the middle, who was smiling.

Shikamaru began. "Before we decide whether or not you – er – _pass, _there are a few extra questions we need to ask you. And depending on the answer you give, we'll decide whether you pass or not."

"Ask away."

"Alright, first question: why are you looking for a place to stay in the middle of the semester?"

He was tempted to ask Shikamaru 'how is it _your_ business?' but stopped himself. _A good question, though,_ he thought. He bit his lip, thought for a split second about how to categorize his reason, and then slowly answered "Family problems."

Kiba stifled a laugh as he tried to imagine what kind of 'family problems' a rich kid with nothing to ask for could have.

Before Shikamaru spoke again, he received a look that bore a flicker of warning from Sai.

"What kind of family problems?" he pursued.

"Umm?"

"I'm sorry but just making sure, you know."

"Hn. Well okay. I've been living with my uncle's family ever since my father died. Was killed, rather." Obvious signs of interest sparkled on the faces of his audience. "My father died in order to save my uncle's life, and so, even though my uncle isn't exactly cruel or anything, he… well… I always feel as though he looks after me just to repay his debt to his dead brother. And I really don't like all the pity, so I figured I'd find a place of my own and start getting a little independent without having to depend on anyone much."

"Err…" Kiba wasn't sure how this was a family 'problem'. "So does your uncle know about you wanting to live on your own?"

"No. I haven't discussed the matter with him."

"What about a job? Do you have a job?" asked Kiba.

"Not yet. But my uncle will be sending in some money every month. He sends it to my account so I could use it as I see fit."

"Really? That's very nice of him. How much?" Shikamaru asked.

"Not much though, just about five thousand. For personal expenses and such."

_Not much my ass! _ Kiba thought.

"And do you intend to keep that money even after you get a job?" Kiba kicked Sai on the shin and Shikamaru nudged him sharply on the side with his elbow.

The boy looked at them suspiciously before replying "Yes. It'll be going to a charity for the orphaned."

Sai figured it was safe to smile.

"Are you vegetarian?" Shikamaru asked again.

"Umm… no."

"Are you gay?" Sai asked, smiling. He earned two whopping thunks to his head from his friends for that question.

The sunglasses glinted. "NO I am most definitely not," came the reply, with an air of superiority.

"Are you allergic to dogs?" Kiba asked.

"No."

"Great!" said Shikamaru, yawning loudly as he got up. "I think that's it. Just give us a minute." He gestured to his friends. Whispering, they made their decision a few steps away from the table.

Two seconds later Shikamaru turned around.

"Well?"

"Pass."

The ends of the other's lips slightly curled upward.

"You're free to visit the place anytime and see if you'll like it. Just give us a ring at least a day in advance, though, just so we can adjust our schedules to coincide with your visit." What Shikamaru _meant_ to say was: 'Just give us a ring at least a day in advance, though, so we could clean up the place before you get there.'

"I'd like to see the place tomorrow then."

"Ah. Very well." Shikamaru glanced at his watch and commented in mock exclamation: "Wow, 11:15 already. I've got a class. See you tomorrow then?"

"Yes."

Kiba and Sai announced that they had classes to attend to as well, and saying their good-byes, got up and left, leaving the Law student to finish his latte and read the ginormous red book.

* * *

It was only after they reached home did they realize they didn't even know his name.

"At least we know he's not gay," Sai offered.

Kiba rolled his eyes as drew a circle around a date on the kitchen calendar and wrote **CLEAN HOUSE** inside it.


	3. Introduction

**Chapter 3 – Introduction**

Sai ripped the beds bare of their sheets. It had been seven months since they last changed them. He tossed them onto the middle of the room, right on top of the pile of dusty curtains he had taken down from the rails.

Kiba picked up another pile of droppings with his spade. It was dry and pretty long, and didn't sit completely on the spade (Akamaru _was_ a big dog after all). So, cautiously – _very_ cautiously – he brought his arm toward the plastic bag. Unfortunately though, about halfway to the bag, approximately one eighth of the rather long biodegradable item fell off the tip of his spade, splitting into three as it succumbed to gravity and impacted the earth.

"Oh _great!_" he mumbled furiously, tossing the rest of the organic material into the bag. Akamaru whined in apology, his tail between his legs. Fumbling with the spade to get the smaller pieces Kiba said: "You know buddy, I guess it's time we got you toilet trained."

The last piece shattered further into five smaller pieces and Kiba, losing his patience, stabbed the ground and buried them under the soil he upturned. After that was done, he got up and made his way to the next pile.

Sai crammed the curtains into the washing machine and turned it on. There was a shudder and a rumble before the water started to fill. He kicked the pile of bed sheets to a side and went back to the room to get new ones.

So what was Shikamaru doing all the while his friends were cleaning up the place and readying it for their visitor? Was he scrubbing the toilet bowl? Was he picking up Kiba's trash? Was he vacuum cleaning? Or was he planting flowers in the yard?

No. Not really. He was actually sitting down at the kitchen table, paper and pen in hand, immersed in something obviously more important: he was writing a letter to his mother.

'Dear Mom,' he began. 'How are you?' Here he stopped, pen hovering above paper. _That was really cheezy_ he thought, and immediately scratched out the words. He reached for a new sheet of paper.

'Dear Mom' he started over. 'Thanks for the cookies.' Pen hovered over paper again. This time he thought the opening was too cliché. He pulled a rough copy of one of his previous letters to her. It had the same opening sentence. (After all, she always sent him cookies, so it _was _very relevant.)

He sighed and tried to think of something original, something that sounded like he was… _enthusiastic._ But then again, that was just impossible, because Shikamaru was made of everything _except_ enthusiasm. Enthusiasm was something that got shot at by the gunmen of his personality if it even _dared_ to enter. So he gave up and decided he'd stick with 'Thanks for the cookies'.

Kiba stormed in and opened the fridge, scanning the items in it. He pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"What kind of cookies did my mother send?" Shikamaru hadn't got the chance to even look at them so he didn't know.

"Mmm" Kiba replied, his mouth full of OJ.

"Yeah yeah, it's that time of month again."

Kiba gulped down the juice and said "I see." He thought for a moment. "Well, there were almond and raisin ones, and chocolate chip, and the usual sugar cookies."

Shikamaru pressed his temples with his free hand, the one not holding onto the pen. "You mean it was _more_ than just one kind?"

Kiba nodded, gulping down more juice. "Uh-huh. And I liked the almond and raisin ones the best."

Shikamaru groaned. Now he'd have to think of sentences to tell her how 'he' enjoyed all _three_ types of cookies.

"Okay…" He exhaled slowly. "Okay, so what did they taste like?"

"What do you mean what'd they taste like? They tasted a lot like your mom's cookies."

"Well just… just what did the almond and raisin ones taste like? I can make it up for the rest."

"Like almonds and raisins?"

Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow.

"Umm…" Kiba thought, trying to be a little more descriptive. "Like almonds and raisins and sugar and somewhat floury and –"

"Ah _jeez_!" Shikamaru thunked his forehead on the table with a loud groan. Kiba laughed.

"That time of the month again, Shikamaru-kun?" Sai asked, smiling (obviously). He had wandered into the kitchen in search of the bottle of Chlorox, which he couldn't find in the garage (he was cleaning the bathroom).

"Aw maaan… I hate writing to my mom."

"So don't," Kiba suggested.

"Are you kidding me? If I don't write her a letter in time she'd get worried and then she might even _come over _just to see if I was alright_._"

The boys shuddered at the possibility of Shikamaru's mother paying them a surprise visit. Her cookies were marvelous but she was a troublesome woman, as Shikamaru described her.

"Okay, so how far have you gotten with it?" Sai had found his Chlorox and deemed himself ready to assist his troubled friend. He had read somewhere in a book that it was a good idea to help out a friend who was in trouble.

"Just up to the first line."

"And…?"

"'Dear Mom, Thanks for the cookies.'"

Kiba chucked the empty carton into the trash.

Sai thought for a bit, Chlorox bottle in hand, before saying: "Okay, so how about 'Dear Mom, Thanks for the cookies. We all loved them. The almond and raisin ones were the best so far. It looks like you've been trying out some new recipes since Dad went on his business trip –"

"Woah woah! Hold on! Hold on!" Shikamaru was racing to write down everything Sai was saying, Kiba prompting him.

"Dad went on his business trip." Kiba reminded him.

"Dad… went… on his… business… trip." Shikamaru looked up, satisfied. And then he remembered something. "He did?"

"Yes you big idiot, don't you remember anything your mom tells you in her letters?" Kiba asked.

"She did?" He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah." He nodded. How could he keep track of so many things? Then he gestured at Sai to continue. "Okay, and then?"

"Where was I?"

"It looks like you've been trying out some new recipes since Dad went on his business trip," Kiba reminded him.

"Ah. And then you could say 'Kiba thinks you should make more of the almond and raisin ones, and Sai wonders if you could send a little more of the chocolate chip ones next time…" Sai waited until Shikamaru was done with the sentence, and then continued. "It was all delicious, thanks again Mom."

Shikamaru added a full stop and then smiled. "Wow, okay. That's –"

But he was interrupted by Sai, who, apparently, wasn't finished dictating the contents of the letter.

"Paragraph. 'So, how are things at home? Things here are just the same. My midterms start next week so I've –"

"No way, my midterms start next week?"

"Umm yeah, you have that Advanced Math test on Monday, remember?" Kiba was surprised. Shikamaru never really studied, and he skipped classes most of the time too, usually wandering off to the university gardens to watch the clouds. Yet he aced his exams. _All the time_. And he wasn't even excited when he got an A*.

Shikamaru shrugged. _What would I do without these guys?_ "Okay, then?"

Sai continued from where he was interrupted. "… 'so I've been extremely busy with school work.' Paragraph. 'I hope this letter finds you in good health. Much love, Shikamaru.'"

"Wow Sai. You're a lifesaver!" Shikamaru beamed, finishing his letter and folding it.

"Man, totally!" added Kiba.

Sai smiled broadly, obviously feeling happy with himself and noted the name of the book that had told him about helping out people when they were in a fix.

"How come you're not like that when you talk?" asked Shikamaru, writing out the address.

"He's just socially retarded so he's better at writing out his thoughts that saying them out loud," Kiba theorized, bluntly.

Sai just shrugged.

* * *

The long-haired, dark-shades visitor stopped by their place the next day, just as he had said he would. Kiba was the first to greet him.

"Yo!" he yelled.

An affirmative grunt was all he could extract from the visitor though.

_Who the hell does he think he is, Mr. High-and-mighty?! Stuck up loser... _

The visitor was shown into the house, and into the various rooms. He grunted affirmatives – in a total of eight different tones, Kiba counted – as he was taken from room to room.

In the bedroom, he tried to open one of the closets. Shikamaru and Kiba jumped in to stop him, bodies shielding the door. The visitor just stood there, suspicious, silently demanding an explanation.

"Uh ha ha ha ha…" Kiba laughed nervously. "Umm, that's Sai's closet. Your one's over there." He pointed to another identical closet on the far left of the room.

The visitor looked at Sai, who was smiling, and wondered _If it's that guy's closet then why the hell are these two guarding it…? _

Nevertheless he decided to inspect 'his' closet. It was big and clean. A slight damp musty smell emanated from it. _Not particularly up to standards, but it'll do I suppose._

"Which bed do I sleep on?" he asked, inspecting the bunk beds on either side of the wall. Sai had laid out blue-and-yellow sheets and pillow cases which did a lot to brighten up the room.

"You will be sleeping there, in the bed above Kiba's" Shikamaru pointed.

The visitor sighed. _I'm going to have to sleep above that common unkempt brat?_

There was a short pause.

"Ah…"

He turned. It was the smiling one.

"I'm sorry visitor-kun, but we didn't catch your name –"

"I never gave you my name."

"Yes, we know."

Silence.

"You didn't bother to ask."

"Yes, we didn't bother."

Shikamaru face-palmed himself.

"What Sai's trying to say is, we're really sorry about that. We just got caught up with the whole interview thing and we all had class and well… well you know… We're really, really sorry."

"Hn."

A long silence followed.

A vessel on Kiba's forehead burst. _Does this guy want us to hug him now or what?!_

Shikamaru stood next to Kiba, praying that he wouldn't say anything stupid. They couldn't afford to lose this guy. This guy was rich. Filthy rich. And _what_ he was doing here trying to live with them in a plain old house was beyond his comprehension. But nevertheless, he was crucial to ensuring that they wouldn't be homeless.

At the end of the pause the visitor removed his shades and in a firm, confidant voice, announced: "Neji."

[Kiba]_ Oh my God are those… cataracts?!_

[Shikamaru]_ Are those… clouds? _

Noticing the gaping faces Neji sighed and added: "No, it's none of those."

"None of…?" Kiba had no idea what he was talking about. The only thing going through his mind was: _Oh my God are those… cataracts?_

And nobody could blame him, because Neji's eyes were large and white and lacked pupils.

"I have perfect vision," he reassured them.

"Then what… how…?" Kiba stammered.

"He's a Hyuuga."

They all turned to Sai. He was smiling at them, knowingly. He held out his hand and said "Nice to meet you, Neji Hyuuga."

Neji shook his hand.

"You can call me Sai."

"You already told me that yesterday."

"Oh."

"Hn."


End file.
